Spinach and Agushi’s Ghanaian food stall has got to be one of my favourite stalls in London.
After tasting their food once I was hooked for ever.
Look, I like the whole ‘meat in a bun’ craze that’s been going on in London recently, with Kimchi Burgers and barbecued rib meat in rolls, but I have to confess that deep down inside I’m a rice and peas kind of girl.
I think it’s in my genes cause my grandmother once told me that the slaves who were brought to Suriname by the slave traders where from Ghana.
And if I trace my father’s family tree all the way back it starts with one woman, a slave girl who was believed to be Ghanaian.
Anyway I’m trying to explain that this love for Ghanaian food may not be something out of the ordinary.
I tried making some Ghanaian soulfood myself this week, one of my favourites called ’Red Red’, a famous bean stew.
Traditionally it is made with dried shrimp or saltfish, but I opted for the vegetarian version.
I went to Ridley Road Market in Dalston and bought myself some plantain, black eyed beans, ginger, tomatoes and paprika. And of course red palm oil,
essential in this dish, it gives it a distinct smell and flavour and its red color too.
My Red Red didn’t turn out as red as Spinach and Agushi’s, wonder if that is because I didn’t use tomato paste.
Despite that the taste is brilliant!
Ingredients
250gr black eyed beans, drained
1 bottle of red palm oil, sold at African/Caribbean and most Asian shops accross London
1 onion, in thin slices
1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
5-10 cm fresh ginger, thinly sliced
2 fresh tomatoes, or half a tin of tomatoes
1-2 bouillon cubes
1 red paprika, sliced
1 Scotch bonnet
salt
black pepper
Heat the palm oil in a skillet, on medium heat. Fry onion, garlic and ginger golden brown. Add the tomatoes, bouillon cubes, paprika and Scotch bonnet. Simmer for 4-5 minutes. Add the beans and simmer for 10 more minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Serve with rice and fried plantain.
Fried plantain
1-2 plantains, cut into slices and deep fried.
I used dry beans by the way which need to be soaked overnight and then cooked before using them to make Red Red. It’s easier using tinned beans.
